The objectives have been to develop sensitive and specific analytical techniques for determining cocaine and its primary metabolites in biologic specimens and to assess the incidence of cocain use by screening autopsy specimens from Medical Examiner's laboratories and urine specimens from drug abuse treatment centers. The collection of specimens has been primarily from the Southwest part of the United States. In cooperation with a pharmaceutical company an effective Radioimmunoassay method has been developed and evaluated for rapidly detecting cocaine use by assaying urine specimens for the cocaine metabolite, benzoylecgonine. In addition a very sensitive method for determining cocaine (unchanged) in blood samples has been developed. The procedure utilizes pentafluorobenzyl chloroformate as the derivating agent with electron-capture detection by the gas-liquid chromatograph as the mechanism for analysis of the cocaine product. The chromatograph procedure requires only microliter amounts of serum or plasma to accomplish the analysis. Benzoylecgonine can also be detected by electron-capture gas chromatography in serum by modification of the method for determining cocaine. Definitive pharmacokinetic values for cocaine in man will be accomplished prior to completion of this project. Preliminary results indicate that 2-5% of violent deaths in the Southwest involve to some extent the presence in body fluids of measureable amounts of cocaine or its metabolites. The feasibility of centrifugal chromatography as an analytical tool for drug abuse studies is also under investigation. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: J.E. Wallace, H.E. Hamilton, J.G. Christensen, E.L. Shimek, Jr., P. Land and S.C. Harris: An Evaluation of Methods for Determining Cocaine and Benzoylecgonine in Urine. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, In Press (1977). S.C. Harris, J.E. Wallace, H.E. Hamilton, E.L. Shimek, Jr., and P. Land: A Pharmacokinetic Study of Cocaine Elimination in Humans. Journal of Forensic Sciences, In Press (1977).